Night 48: Main Hallway, 1-Center
[From over here]
While the prospect of loitering in the hallway he had just passed was tempting (just what was the Keybearer and his friends up to?), X was officially timing himself out of lack of anything else to do. There was no one to speak with, nothing to look at, no cards in his possession, but Time would never abandon. She was always there ( Read more... )
While the prospect of loitering in the hallway he had just passed was tempting (just what was the Keybearer and his friends up to?), X was officially timing himself out of lack of anything else to do. There was no one to speak with, nothing to look at, no cards in his possession, but Time would never abandon. She was always there ( Read more... )
Sasuke would have liked to say that he didn't flinch in the least when there came an abrupt scream and a rush of air passing him as he made his way towards the Sun Room, but it would have been a lie. His sword hand twitched into a defensive position out of sheer instinct and the Sharingan flared to life as he whipped his head around to watch --
... two bright smears of thoroughly human chakra breeze by in what appeared to be an entirely monster-free chase.
The spectacle took a moment to process, and Sasuke was ... still entirely uncertain what to make of it once he had. Was it that he was finally going mad after all, or had the chaser been shouting something that sounded a lot like Academy math?
On the bright side, the involuntary flash of Sharingan that he had to quell in their wake had revealed Aidou already waiting with another patient whose chakra signature Sasuke didn't recognise. Head still turned to listen to the fading sounds of the chase, Sasuke approached the other two, a confused frown in place without realising it.
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Some kid, probably around Aidou's age (or maybe even younger) was being chased by a lunatic with a shovel who was yelling nonsense at the top of his lungs. The soldier's eyes widened as they ran past, but they were going too fast for him to react more than that.
Did the kid need help? It was hard to say, but the pair ran into the Sun Room, which was where they would also eventually be going. Maybe they could catch up--
But he was getting ahead of himself. They had a whole other task that he was supposed to be focusing on, and as Zack turned back to Aidou with a somewhat bewildered expression, he noticed that a young man fitting the earlier description was approaching.
"Oh, you, you're Sasuke? Guess it's a good thing you didn't get caught in that mess." Zack smiled at the kid and extended a hand, unaware that Sasuke couldn't see him. As for the two who had raced by, Zack was still thinking about them, but he was doing his best to hold back that heroic impulse. The mission came first, right? That was what he'd always tried to adhere to (company rules and all that), but he thought he'd broken away from it. Obviously this mission was far more in line with his own desires, but despite that, he hoped that kid was okay.
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He glared at the flash of the Sun Room he caught as they barreled through, before the presence of another drew the majority of his attention. On the bad side, a pair of morons were running around screaming, making themselves targets for themselves and everyone around them, but on the good side, Sasuke had arrived and found them seemingly without trouble. Aidou slipped the shield back into the pillowcase, the corners of his mouth drawn tight.
At least they could get going now.
Zack’s gesture was impossible to miss, and he eyed it with an air of speculation. However, the loss of his sight was Sasuke’s burden; Aidou hadn’t mentioned it for that fact. What he did say was, “This is Zack, the one I mentioned.”
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Interestingly, the third that Aidou had found this time seemed outright friendly, breaking a trend that they had inadvertently set over time. Hopefully that didn't void usefulness.
"I am," he returned, noting the name and -- with his limited bloodline-sight long deactivated to conserve what little of it he had -- utterly failing to notice the extended hand, dismissing the rustle of movement he'd heard as simple shifting.
"Are we ready to go?" Addressed to both; Sasuke lifted his left hand, the small silver sword glinting briefly in the low light, to indicate his own readiness. He hadn't bothered to conceal it, both out of the luxury of its form (he assumed that most who saw it would see it as a secondary weapon to the sword held in his right hand) and little regard for ability of any who might realise its use and seek it for themselves.
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It was a puzzle, though, right? This kind of stuff could be a headache, but it had sounded like Aidou mainly wanted him for grunt work. Which was insulting, but he'd been let in on a lot of information thus far, so he couldn't say it wasn't worth it.
Speaking of information, it was for that reason that Zack knew where they needed to go next. Aidou hadn't given him step-by-step directions, but Zack at least knew that heading past the Sun Room came next. When Sasuke asked his question, the soldier nodded. "Ready as ever," he remarked casually as he turned toward the Sun Room and then led them inside. This was the first time he'd gone this way during the night, so he wasn't entirely sure what to expect.
[To here.]
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